The first races using the new mountain bike trail in Bear Creek Park will be held Wednesday, June 4 at 5 and 6:15 p.m.
The sponsor is Sand Creek Sports, a local race promoter, which plans similar events at the same times the following Wednesdays (June 11 and 18), according to
Brian Kay of El Paso County Parks.
Built with private funds, volunteer assistance and County Parks design help over the past year, the roughly two-mile course winds in and around the hilly area south of
the Dog Park and west of Eighth Street. It has three loops in all, called “stacked loops,” that connect in ways that allow all three to be used for one race course, he
said.
About 50 riders are expected in each race, which are time-based and will involve about five circuits of the course.
“The trail's in good shape and ready to go,” Kay said. “We're excited to see these events here in the park.”
He estimated that about half the trail was built by volunteers - many of them local cyclists - and the remainder by a private contractor using mechanized equipment.
The project also included closing off about 2,000 feet of “social trails” that had been causing erosion problems, he said.
People can watch the races (there is no admission fee) from the Bear Creek Terrace parking lot (off Argus Boulevard) or from the previously built regional hiking trail,
which crosses the mountain bike trail in two places, Kay noted.